External Drives DON"T WORK WITH VISTA

"mr. Stu" <mr. Stu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:D14412AB-DA70-4EFF-B6BE-11258228705B@microsoft.com...
> We do not ask Vista(TM) to do everything just the minimum any businessman
> would need from a $200.00 OS we are forced to deal with because there are no
> longer any XP OS systems to be bought anymore. To that end Microsoft could at
> least provide a generic USB to ATA/ATAPI driver so that perhaps some newer
> model external drives which state they are Vista(TM) compatable would have
> more than a hockey player's chance to score a goal in hell.


People who just rant and rave, but provide no information as to what their problem is, get all the help they deserve.

mr. Stu wrote:
> We do not ask Vista(TM) to do everything just the minimum any businessman
> would need from a $200.00 OS we are forced to deal with because there are no
> longer any XP OS systems to be bought anymore. To that end Microsoft could at
> least provide a generic USB to ATA/ATAPI driver so that perhaps some newer
> model external drives which state they are Vista(TM) compatable would have
> more than a hockey player's chance to score a goal in hell.

Took me about 30 seconds to find a PC with XP. Just look under business
desktops on the HP site. I also know that Dell has them also. Methink
you didn't look to hard.

gls858

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 05:15:01 -0700, mr. Stu <mr.
Stu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>We do not ask Vista(TM) to do everything just the minimum any businessman
>would need from a $200.00 OS we are forced to deal with because there are no
>longer any XP OS systems to be bought anymore. To that end Microsoft could at
>least provide a generic USB to ATA/ATAPI driver so that perhaps some newer
>model external drives which state they are Vista(TM) compatable would have
>more than a hockey player's chance to score a goal in hell.

External drives DO work with Vista. I just installed my 5th, a Seagate
1 TB Free Agent Pro. Vista should detect new hardware and then
automatically install drivers for either SATA, USB or Firewire.

You need to plug in the drive's data cable (either USB, Firewire or
SATA) then power up the drive. Depending on which make and model you
have you might have to use some included CD or DVD to install any
utilities, special software that might come with the drive.

You need to give more specific answers. Does Vista "see" the drive or
not? It may need to be formatted or it could already be. Again,
depends on make, model. Some drives might come formatted with the
older FAT 32 system (rare) and you need to reformat to NTFS for best
performance under Vista.

How easily a external drives "plugs in" to your system depends on what
system you have. If you system doesn't have connectors for USB,
Firewire or SATA already built in (look on back plate of computer)
then you'll need to purchase a external card that supports the
interface/controller you wish to use.

The biggest problem anyone has with external drives is getting brain
dead Windows to unmount them without issue. This has been a long
running issue where when you try to turn off (unmount) some external
Vista like in prior versions of Windows might sometimes complain the
drive is in use when it isn't. This is another in a long line of
issues Microsoft hasn't properly addressed.

"gls858" <gls858@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:eO3ucMdDJHA.3432@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> mr. Stu wrote:
>> We do not ask Vista(TM) to do everything just the minimum any businessman
>> would need from a $200.00 OS we are forced to deal with because there are
>> no longer any XP OS systems to be bought anymore. To that end Microsoft
>> could at least provide a generic USB to ATA/ATAPI driver so that perhaps
>> some newer model external drives which state they are Vista(TM)
>> compatable would have more than a hockey player's chance to score a goal
>> in hell.
>
> Took me about 30 seconds to find a PC with XP. Just look under business
> desktops on the HP site. I also know that Dell has them also. Methink you
> didn't look to hard.
>

And ebuyer.com has loads of XP OSs for sale....

so how can i tell what kind of external hard drive it is

"R. McCarty" wrote:

> If you mean install/run Vista from an external, only if the drive is
> either a SCSI or SATA. To Vista, a USB external drive defines
> itself as "Removable" which is not a supported installation setup.
>
> "abc@shaw.ca" <we@shaw> wrote in message
> news:1d0jg.7716$iF6.5390@pd7tw2no...
> > Hey ,
> >
> > Does anyone know if there is a soloution to make an external drive work
> > with windows vista
> >
> > let me know please
> >
>
>
>

Cody was referring to the type of connector used to connect to your computer, not the type of
interface within the external drive case. Do you have a SCSI cable connection or a SATA cable
connection? Or is the cable a USB connection?
(Yes, I know that the interface within the case would be the same in either of these applications).

If you just use the external drive for backup, it does not matter what connector interface you use,
it should work in Vista.

"Cody" <Cody@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C7D0D6C4-424D-4C29-B7B0-44EF9AE82C5A@microsoft.com...
> so how can i tell what kind of external hard drive it is
>
> "R. McCarty" wrote:
>
>> If you mean install/run Vista from an external, only if the drive is
>> either a SCSI or SATA. To Vista, a USB external drive defines
>> itself as "Removable" which is not a supported installation setup.
>>
>> "abc@shaw.ca" <we@shaw> wrote in message
>> news:1d0jg.7716$iF6.5390@pd7tw2no...
>> > Hey ,
>> >
>> > Does anyone know if there is a soloution to make an external drive work
>> > with windows vista
>> >
>> > let me know please
>> >
>>
>>
>>

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:27:01 -0800, Cody
<Cody@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> so how can i tell what kind of external hard drive it is


Two points:

1. Look at the connector that plugs into the computer. If it goes into
a rectangular socket, about 1/2" by 1/4", it's USB.

2. The great majority of these are USB, so that's very likely what
yours is. And if it were any other kind, you almost certainly would
know it.



> "R. McCarty" wrote:
>
> > If you mean install/run Vista from an external, only if the drive is
> > either a SCSI or SATA. To Vista, a USB external drive defines
> > itself as "Removable" which is not a supported installation setup.
> >
> > "abc@shaw.ca" <we@shaw> wrote in message
> > news:1d0jg.7716$iF6.5390@pd7tw2no...
> > > Hey ,
> > >
> > > Does anyone know if there is a soloution to make an external drive work
> > > with windows vista
> > >
> > > let me know please
> > >
> >
> >
> >

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Cody wrote:
> so how can i tell what kind of external hard drive it is

So, Cody, how do you like the idea of Frank accusing you of being me?

--
Alias